Brake Repair: Recognize Your Warning Signs

If you find yourself in a situation where you need optimum stopping time out of your vehicle, it's a bad feeling to realize you can't count on your braking system. You can avoid running into this problem by making sure your brake repair and maintenance responsibilities have always been taken care of. How do you do this? You can start by following your manufacturer's guidelines as it pertains to getting the proper work done. Besides that, you need to be attuned to the warning signs that your car will give you when it's time to see a mechanic. Here are some of them and what they could mean.

Squeals and Grinding

These are the two most common warning signs that tell drivers that it's time for a new set of pads. If you ignore heavy grinding for long, you could wind up needing extensive brake repair work, and it won't be cheap. The best practice is to get your car in front of a mechanic as soon as you notice any unusual sounds when you stop your car. A good set of pads is necessary to ensure proper braking speeds. When they get below 25% of their original size, you can begin to experience some of the issues that go along with worn pads. Get it fixed and get back on the road.

Acrid Smell

This is one of those things that few brake repair specialists will tell you about, but it's something to be aware of. An acrid smell or a burning odor could mean that your calipers aren't fully releasing from the rotors when you take your foot off the braking pedal. This can really reduce your gas mileage and put a lot of unnecessary wear and tear on your braking system. Of course, it isn't something to be overly concerned about it you only smell it once. It also accompanies a really heavy stomp on the brakes, so if you just had to skid to a stop, that may be all there is to it.

Squishy Pedal

Your pedal should respond fairly immediately when you press on it. If it isn't, and you're having to press it down further and further each time, you are suffering from squishy pedal syndrome. The causes are variable, but all of them need the attention of a brake repair expert. The most common cause is air in the system, which can be fixed rather quickly. Unfortunately, excess air in the system could mean you have a leak in the master cylinder, which is nothing to mess around with. At worst, squishy pedal syndrome could mean you are on the way to complete system failure, so don't make the mistake of ignoring this problem.